UCHealth, University of Colorado partner with the DoD to transform local hotel into hospital
Multi-year project explores options for national health emergency scenarios
Aurora, Colo. (July 17, 2025) – UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital is partnering with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and others on a groundbreaking, multi-year research initiative to explore how existing infrastructure can rapidly be converted to provide hospital-level care in the event of a national health emergency.
Funded by a grant from the Department of Defense (DoD), the research addresses a critical challenge in national preparedness: the strain placed on the U.S. health care system during a prolonged mass casualty event. According to DoD projections, national health emergencies or a large-scale overseas combat scenario resulting in high numbers of patients could deplete national hospital bed capacity within 10 to 12 days.
The University of Colorado Department of Emergency Medicine received a $12.5 million grant in 2023 to develop an alternative care facility (ACF) using creative, scalable solutions. The study’s first phase focused on developing a comprehensive ‘playbook’ to rapidly set up temporary hospital space in a hotel.
Now, in year two, the Colorado-based research team has completed a working prototype inside the Hyatt Regency Aurora-Denver Conference Center, located across the street from the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Two fully functional intensive care units have been constructed, one inside a conference room and another using hotel rooms converted into patient rooms, a nursing station, imaging and laboratory services.
“From a disaster preparedness perspective, this is probably the most impactful project I'll ever work on,” said Dr. Jason Persoff, UCHealth physician and associate professor at the CU School of Medicine, who is co-leading the research. “Because of this work, we now have a blueprint to turn a hotel into a hospital-level care site in just two to four weeks. This could save countless lives during a crisis.”
Unlike temporary hospital spaces used during the COVID-19 pandemic, including tents and convention centers, the hotel model offers several advantages including improved infection control, private bathrooms and the ability to isolate patients to ensure safer, more effective hospital-level care.
The ACF will be in place for two weeks as the team transitions to the final phase, which will focus on testing the model in other cities, refining and finalizing a comprehensive ‘playbook,’ and developing algorithmic tools to help hospital decision-makers select appropriate surge solutions based on needs and available resources.
About UCHealth
UCHealth is a nationally recognized nonprofit health system that pushes the boundaries of medicine through advanced treatments and clinical trials, improving health through innovation and providing unmatched patient care in the Rocky Mountain West. Investing $1.3 billion in community benefits including $570 million in uncompensated care each year, UCHealth is Colorado’s largest Medicaid provider and dedicated to the communities it serves. With the region’s only adult academic medical center, University of Colorado Hospital on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, UCHealth includes 35,000 employees, 14 acute-care hospitals and hundreds of physicians across Colorado, Wyoming and western Nebraska.
About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado – which see more than two million adult and pediatric patient visits yearly. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, the CU Anschutz Medical Campus delivers life-changing treatments, patient care and professional training and conducts world-renowned research fueled by $910 million in annual research funding, including $757 million in sponsored awards and $153 million in philanthropic gifts.
